In this special episode, we revisit a fireside conversation between Vitalik Buterin and Friederike Ernst at DappCon 2026 in Berlin. They explore the Ethereum Economic Zone (EEZ), a new vision for Ethereum built around synchronous composability, app chains, and real-time proving.

Following the fireside, Sebastien and Friederike break down the ideas behind the EEZ and discuss what this new paradigm could mean for Ethereum's future.

Topics covered include:

• The Ethereum Economic Zone and synchronous composability

• App chains, privacy networks, and prediction markets

• Ethereum as an economic operating system for the internet

• Sequencing, MEV, and shared liquidity across chains

• Enterprise, government, and institutional use cases

• Why this approach differs from Cosmos, Polkadot, and other ecosystem visions

• The future of Ethereum beyond rollup fragmentation

Links:

Lido: https://lido.fi/stvaults?mtm_campaign=epicenter

Sponsors:

Lido V3 introduces stVaults: a modular staking infrastructure that lets builders and institutions deploy custom staking vaults, while staying anchored to stETH as a shared liquidity layer.

Get started building with Lido V3 today: https://lido.fi/stvaults?mtm_campaign=epicenter

Block Space Forum: https://blockspace.forum/

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Vitalik Buterin on The Economic Zone (EEZ) Ep. 642

Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed Technologies

Vitalik Buterin on The Economic Zone (EEZ) Ep. 642